


‘Til The Sun Comes Up

by lilies_in_a_vase



Series: Looking For A Safe Place To Land [16]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Robin Buckley, Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Good Relationship, Billy Hargrove Is Happy, Bisexual Erica Sinclair, F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Happy Ending, M/M, POV Billy Hargrove, Speeches, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Vows, Wedding Reception, Weddings, funny?, no beta we die like men, soft, wedding ceremony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:42:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilies_in_a_vase/pseuds/lilies_in_a_vase
Summary: Billy’s getting married.Three months ago, the first same-sex couples in America got married, and now, he’s standing in one of the bedrooms in the mansion by the sea he and Steve rented as their wedding venue, getting ready.—Featuring:It’s August of 2003.Billy is thirty-six years old.And he’s about to marry the love of his life.
Relationships: Alexei/Murray Bauman, Billy Hargrove & Lucas Sinclair, Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Jonathan Byers & Billy Hargrove, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers & Billy Hargrove, Joyce Byers & Billy Hargrove & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Robin Buckley & Billy Hargrove, Robin Buckley & Billy Hargrove & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Steve Harrington's Parents, Will Byers & Billy Hargrove
Series: Looking For A Safe Place To Land [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637785
Comments: 3
Kudos: 77





	‘Til The Sun Comes Up

**Author's Note:**

> Well, my lovelies, it’s been a year since this series began and I posted my first fanfic. I hope you guys all like the conclusion to it! That said, I am going to write an extra fic set in this same universe I developed, for Pandaruler1897, so if anyone else has any requests put it in a comment and I’ll see if I can get to it?
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own “Stranger Things”. The title comes from “A Safe Place To Land” by Sara Bareilles and John Legend. The quotes are from “Emma”, and “Pride & Prejudice” by Jane Austen, as well as “The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith.

_ Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, 14th of August, 2004 _

Billy’s getting married. 

Three months ago, the first same-sex couples in America got married, and now, he’s standing in one of the bedrooms in the mansion by the sea he and Steve rented as their wedding venue. 

He’s just put his suit on, is busy fixing the boutonnière, when a knock comes on the door to the room. Steve’s nonna made them each one of those little bouquets, Billy’s with six tiny flowers in the colours of the rainbow flag, Steve’s with two pink flowers, two purple, and two blue. 

The knock comes again, and Billy gives up fumbling with the flowers to go answer.

Robin’s on the other side, a couple violets in her hair pulling it back behind her ear, and she smiles when she sees him. “Your parents are here,” she says, and a second later is stepping to the side as Joyce comes up behind her, stepping into the room. Robin laughs as she closes the door and leaves the two of them alone. 

“Oh, Billy, sweetie, no,” Joyce says, sadly but with humour dancing in her eyes. 

“Huh?” 

“Your hair. It’s come undone,” she says, motions with her hand for him to rotate. “Come on, turn around. I’ll fix it for you.”

He does so, bending his knees a little so she has an easier time reaching for his hair. She loosens the hair tie, and it comes tumbling down to his shoulders. Joyce is sixty years old now, and her hands are starting to wrinkle, but they’re still soft as she cards them through his curls, going through the tangles. He doesn’t tell her he’d been planning on fixing it, that he’s just not had the time to get to it yet, instead keeping quiet and closing his eyes, letting her do it for him. 

“Bobby pins?” 

“On the table,” Billy says. Since he’d let his hair grow out for real, he’d also needed to invest in bobby pins and hair ties. There’s probably a million of them in the bathroom drawer in their Boston flat. He generally keeps his hair in buns while at work, messy ones at the nape of his neck, but sometimes he’s met smaller children who love reaching out and playing with it. He’s a child welfare social worker, and Steve’s has his own chain of restaurants, spread out across the whole country. 

Joyce reaches for Billy’s hand and guides it up to hold his hair, leaving him to stand there in the middle of the room while she gets the pins. She comes back with them, makes him let go of his hair, and Billy feels her secure the bun tightly, making sure it’ll hold the rest of the day. 

She steps back, turns him around and looks at him, hands clasped in front of her. “So handsome,” she says, smiling brightly. 

Billy smiles back at her, stepping forward and putting his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. Joyce holds him close. 

He hadn’t Jim Hopper ‘dad’ until he was twenty. When he was twenty-two, he’d introduced Joyce to his university friends as his mum without thinking. Had thought about it for a second and decided then and there that his mum was always going to be his mum, but so was Joyce, who had chosen to become it. He’s called her his mum for fourteen years now. 

Billy left the window open, letting the smell of salt being carried on the breeze in and calming his nerves. He’s marrying the love of his life, but for so many years Billy had never thought that would be possible, so he can’t help the butterflies in his stomach. 

Now, the sound of a very familiar car comes pulling up to the driveway outside the front of the mansion. When he’d moved out, he left the Camaro for Max, and eventually the sound stopped reminding him of the Mindflayer and started to just mean his sister was here. 

Which she is right now, Billy can hear her voice drifting up through the open window, and thinks she’s shouting at Lucas to stop hoovering over her. He lets out a snort and sees Joyce’s gaze go to the window, before she’s laughing with him. 

“He’s just worried, you know,” Joyce chuckles. “I mean, twins.” 

“Max is strong, she’s always been.” 

“I know, sweetie.” 

He goes over to the dresser, at the bottle of cologne he’s got there and starts putting some on. “How’s Susan, by the way? And... Grant? Was that his name?” 

Joyce smiles at him, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “They’re happy. I think they’re planning on moving to California. Susan wants to be there to help Max. Babysit.” 

“Hm,” Billy hums, leaning back against the dresser. He hasn’t had much contact with Susan since he moved out from Cherry Lane. Since the trial that put Neil Hargrove in jail. But he’s seen her some times, when they’ve both been visiting Max at the same time. She’d called him a couple of days ago to congratulate him and Steve. 

Both he and Joyce look up when the door is thrown open. Max’ belly comes first, then the woman herself, Lucas behind her. 

Billy grins, straightening up and taking a few steps towards her. 

“Where is the little penguin?” he says, and sees Lucas’ eyes widen. 

“‘Penguin’?” he says. “She’s a T-Rex.” 

Max swats at them both with her purse. “You,” she says, pointing a finger in Lucas’ face. “You are going to shut up. This,” she says, gesturing at her baby bump. “Is your fault.” She turns, rounding on Billy. “And you. Do you realise how hard it was to find a maternity dress I actually liked, suitable for your goddamn wedding? I’m always going to be mad at you for not getting married while I wasn’t yet showing so freaking much!” 

“You didn’t tell me you were pregnant until like five months ago!” 

“I’m huge. I’m huge, and I’m powerful, and I’m going to stand in court all day and argue, and I’m only letting Lucas drive the car when these two decide it’s time to get the fuck out of here. Now give me a hug.” 

Billy holds his arms out, and she walks straight into his embrace. It’s a little hard, because she is huge, and Billy doesn’t want to hurt her or his unborn nieces or nephews. 

“Mm. You smell nice,” Max says, leaning her head against him. 

“She’s like a bloodhound,” Lucas says, meeting Billy’s eyes over her head. “She’s going to start to be able to sniff out evidence.” 

“Hell yes, I am. I’ve always been able to tell when you’re lying,” Max says, voice muffled against him. Billy laughs. 

“That’s because I’m a shitty liar. Our problem is that you haven’t believed me when I was telling the truth.” 

“That was once, and you were trying to convince me an alternate dimension existed.” 

Lucas huffs a breath and goes to sit in one of the armchair against the wall. 

“You look beautiful, shitbird,” Billy says, stepping back and looking over at her. She’s dressed in a green dress, matching flats, her red hair braided away from the left side of her face, so it falls down in soft waves over her right shoulder. 

“You too, Billy. Joyce do your hair?” 

He nods. “And Steve’s nonna got us the flowers.” 

Max smiles, looking at the little boutonnière. “I like them.” 

The door opens again, Robin stepping inside and sighing. “Oh, good. You’re all here.” 

“How’s Steve doing?” Billy asks. 

“He can’t stop smiling,” Robin says, then starts to blink in something close to exasperation. “He collapsed on the bed in a heap and told me he was about to turn into a swarm of butterflies. Jessie jumped up on him and got dog hairs all over his suit. Dustin got her to climb back down and Steve’s mum had to drag Steve back up and then she, his dad, and I all stood around and tried to get out the wrinkles and hair while Dusting distracted Jessie. Richard gave up and made Steve hand him his shirt; I heard him leave muttering something about finding an ironing board. I don’t know if he succeeded. When I left, Dustin was forcing Steve to sit down so he could style his hair.” 

“And Jessie?” Billy asks with a grin. 

“Elena took your dog to go walk her around the house for a bit.” As if on cue, he hears the sound of Jessie’s joyful barking from the open window. “There you go,” Robin says, gesturing towards it. She goes to sit down in the armchair next to Lucas. “This wedding hasn’t even really started yet, and I’m already stressed to high heaven. Or is it hell? I don’t know, but whatever it is, I am it.” 

“You know we didn’t ask you to be out wedding planer,” Billy says. “You just kind of... announced you were going to.” 

Robin leans forward, one arm on her leg, and gets eye contact with him. “You two are my best friends,” she says, seriously. “You’ve been together for almost twenty years, and we never thought this day would come, that this goddamn country would get this far. So I’m going to make sure this day is perfect. Besides,” she adds, leaning back and smiling. “I’m expecting the same treatment when I finally find someone to get hitched. And I’m usually stressed. So, how’s everyone else feeling? You guys know I love listening to everybody else’s problems.” 

Robin had ended up becoming a therapist, and she’d convinced Dr. Owens to let her colleagues know about the whole Upside Down debacle, just so that she and her friends could all get some real therapy instead of only relying on each other. 

“We’ve started picking out stuff for the babies. I never knew there were so many different versions of double strollers,” Lucas says. “And we’re looking for cribs. Although someone, whom my dear wife insists will eventually get to it, still hasn’t painted the last wall.” 

Billy smiles at him. “First thing on my list after the honeymoon.” 

The door opens again, Hop sticking his head inside. “I think Richard’s about to have a panic attack because he can’t find an iron. He did find the board.” 

“But no iron?” Joyce asks, frowning. 

“No. Robin?” 

She sighs, standing up and smoothing her dress down. “I’m coming. I’ve got to get Dustin to go direct the guests to their seats, anyway.” 

Dustin is Steve’s best man, Max is Billy’s - _because who else?_ \- and Robin is both of theirs. People already think they’re sullying the sanctity of marriage, so who cares, they can have three best men out of which two are women. 

Robin’s back around half an hour later, Hop in tow, and by that point, Billy’s already heard several cars arrive with their guests. 

“Another crisis averted?” Joyce asks.

“Yeah,” Robin says, turning to Billy. “Your fiancé is officially dressed, once again.” She opens her purse, pulling out a small pile of papers and going around the room to hand them out. “I printed the time plan. Familiarise yourselves with it. Max, you, Dustin, and I are walking in first. Then Lucas, you’re with the groomsmen, okay? So groomsmen and bride- ‘groomsmaids’? Grooms... ‘couples’? ‘Pairs’?” 

“Robin,” Billy says, holding up a hand to stop her and trying not to laugh. “It’s okay. You can call them bridesmaids. It’s just El and Nancy. Calm down.” 

“I am calm! Anyway. Lucas, they’re in the sitting room. Second floor. Go find them, and get ready. Go to the bathroom or tell the girls to better up their makeup if they need to, or something, I don’t know. Just go, out.” 

He does so, looking vaguely terrified. Max laughs once the door is closed behind him. 

“You should have become an army general, not a therapist,” she says. 

Robin grins. “I should’ve, shouldn’t I? But I’ve got directions for you, too. Dustin’s going to be in the third room, away from the stairscase, this floor. He’s taking care of the guests right now, but I’ll go down and send him up, so go wait for us there.” She looks up at Billy, leaning against the wall across the room, and smiles brightly. “Billy. You’re getting married in half an hour. I want you three to start walking at half past, on the dot, okay?” 

“Like we practiced yesterday, yes, I remember,” he says, smiling, feeling like his belly’s fluttering. “You tyrant.” 

She smirks at him, then glances out through the windows. “I’ve got to go make sure everyone’s here. I did not check what time to sun would set for people to throw us off schedule.” 

“What would we do without you?”

“Well, you wouldn’t be having your first dance against the backdrop of a sunset, that’s for certain.”

She turns, dress swishing behind her, and closes the door. Billy hears it in tune with the pounding beat of his heart. 

“How you feeling, kid?” Jim asks. Billy may be thirty-six years old, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the man from still calling him that. 

“I’m marrying Steve,” Billy breathes. “Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming.” 

“Well, okay,” Jim says, and Billy turns to him, holding his hands out in front of himself as protection. But he doesn’t move, Billy just sees his smile getting wider, and then he feels a tiny pinch on his arm, through his suit jacket. 

He jumps, turning around to find Joyce grinning at him. Both his parents start laughing, and Billy sighs. 

They end up sitting on the bed, Billy in between them with one hand in each of theirs, until it’s time to go down. 

There’s an exit on each side of the house, and Billy knows Steve’s at the other one with his parents right now, starting to walk at the same time as Billy does. He’s arm in arm with Joyce and Jim, one on each side, and as they round the house he can hear the music. 

Robin’s put flowers down in the grass, creating a border to the path they’re supposed to walk. 

The guests are turning around, looking at them, and Max gives him a discreet thumbs up from the head of the aisle. He has to bite his lip not to laugh. 

When Billy’s eyes land on Steve, it feels like everything starts to fade away. He looks so good, and Billy’s marrying him. They’ve got matching suits on, although Billy opted for a waistcoat and slightly unbuttoned collar, Steve instead choosing a tie that matches his eyes. 

They both knew they wanted their parents there with them, but couldn’t decide who would go first. Robin had flipped a coin, but right as she was about to check the result, Steve had shouted at her to stop. He’d thought they could have their parents walk them up to the aisle, but then they’d go down it together. 

Billy’s glad they’d decided on that one when his hand reaches out and clasps Steve’s. He doesn’t want to know how much product Dustin had thrown into Steve’s hair, because there’s a breeze and not a hair is moving out of place. 

Billy wishes he could kiss him right now. 

But instead, they share a soft smile, before continuing to walk down the aisle, Richard taking Joyce arm and Jim taking Elena’s behind them, walking to take their seats in the front row. It feels like he’s wearing Hermes’ talaria, his feet about to lift from the ground, instead of the polished black shoes he’s got on. Their wedding party are spread out on each side of the officiant, who stands underneath an arc of flowers, Robin with the rings on one side and Jessie, their Rottweiler, with a little basket of flowers in her mouth, on the other. 

Billy lets go off Steve’s hand, fingers trailing behind until the last moment before they separate, and stands to the side, Steve in front of him and their officiant between them, the Atlantic Ocean behind the man. 

“Welcome, family and friends. We gather here today to celebrate the wedding - which I am very happy to be able to say - of Steven and William. 

“A wedding is simply the stepping stone to a marriage. And a marriage is something created between two souls who love one another so much so that they wish to forever be joined together. It is something created through love, and loyalty, and trust. It is grown through laughter and communication and commitment. Through sharing the joys of the good moments, and the pains of the bad. Through choosing to love and to hold, in sickness and in health.” 

He turns to look Steve in the eyes then, and Billy’s smile widens. 

“Do you, Steven Harrington, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” 

Steve’s eyes flicker over to meet Billy’s. They’re dancing. “I do,” he says. 

The officiant smiles, turning to Billy. “And do you, William Hargrove, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” Billy says, knowing his cheeks are going to hurt tomorrow from how wide he’s smiling. 

“I believe you have prepared your own vows?”

“Billy. You know I’m not the best with words, but I’ll try. When I first met you, you were a bit of an asshole. You’re still a bit of an asshole, but you’re my asshole now, so I forgive you for it. I still remember the first time you told me you loved me, in your hospital room that summer of ‘85. You have told me you loved me too many times since then for me to remember them all, but I promise you I have felt each one. 

“I promise you that I’m going to make you my nonna’s soup that you love so much every time you’re sick, and I’m only going to laugh at you a little when you still can’t pronounce the name of it sixty years from now. My love for you grows stronger each day I’m with you, but especially when you put on your shitty metal music and let out that gorgeous hair to headbang in tune with the drums, even if I always have to throw you out of the kitchen so we don’t get any curls in the food. Yeah. That’s all,” he says, shrugging and smiling a little sheepishly. “I love you.” 

His vow brings a couple of chuckles from the guests, but Billy feels a tear trail down from his eye. He loves this dorky man with all his heart. 

“William?” the officiant says, and Billy takes a deep breath before speaking. 

“You asked me, many, many years ago, in a less accepting time, in the safety of your car, what my favourite Jane Austen quote was. And I answered _‘If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more’._ And you kissed me, and then I ran away. Well, I can tell you that I have a new favourite, and it’s one that would answer the question of when I fell in love with you. So, here goes,

“‘I _cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.’_ I can promise you, that any time I feel like running, it will be into your arms. It is the safest place in this whole universe, and I am so lucky that I get to wake up and go to sleep there.” 

“May I have the rings?” the officiant asks, and Robin steps up, handing them to him. “Please may the grooms repeat after me: I give you this ring, for you to wear each day, as proof of my everlasting love for you.” 

Both he and Steve hold out their left hands to the other, using their right ones to trail the ring onto the others finger, as they in unison say, “I give you this ring, for you to wear each day, as proof of my everlasting love for you.”

“By the love of your union, and the power vested in me, I know pronunce you husbands! You may know kiss!” 

Finally, Billy thinks, as he reaches out to pull Steve to him by the lapels of his suit jacket. Steve reaches a hand up to place it on Billy’s cheek, tilting his head a little and leaning down to kiss him. 

It’s soft, and it’s sweet, and as the guests cheer Billy never wants to leave this moment. 

But eventually he has to come up for air. 

And Robin drags them away to get their photographs taken, Jessie running ahead of them.  
  
  


“I was afraid my hand was going to shake so hard you’d lose the grip on the ring and it would fall down into the grass. Or the sea,” Steve whispers to him as they follow after her, their parents and wedding Party behind them. 

“I would have thrown you into the goddamn water after it for putting me through the embarrassment,” Billy whispers back. 

“I would have pulled you down with me.” 

“I know you would’ve, Mr. Harrington.” 

Steve grins. “I love you,  _ Mr. Harrington _ _._ ” 

Billy had kept Neil’s name as an adult, even after Jim and Joyce adopted him, because, well, it had still been _his_ name . But there had been no question in his mind when they found out they could get married that he wouldn’t take Steve’s name. 

Robin leads them down towards the beach, telling everyone to take off their shoes on the last patch of grass before it turns to sand. She gets hers off first, moving over to the photographer waiting for them further down, being handed a piece of paper by the woman. Jessie’s busy running around in circles around them, stopping to sniff on everyone’s shoes as they get them off.

“I could carry you,” Billy hears Lucas say, and turns around to see him smiling at Max. 

“Or you could just help me get my shoes off and back on.” 

“You’re my beautiful Cinderella.” 

Max laughs. “Shit, Sinclair, will you ever stop?” 

“We’ve been married five years. You’re also a Sinclair.” 

“And don’t make me regret that.” 

“Boys!” Robin calls. “Get here! Grooms first, we’re on a schedule.” 

They end up positioned with their backs against the sea, feet in the soft sand, holding hands, then take another photograph as they’re kissing. Next comes photos with their parents, with their best men, with the whole wedding party, the girls by themselves and the groomsmen by themselves, and on it goes for almost forty-five minutes. 

“Where did my sister go?” Lucas asks on their way back. Steve’s fallen back to talk with Dustin, Nancy and Jonathan. 

“She probably found some dark corner to go suck Miriam’s face off.” 

“‘Dark corner’? We’re on a beach!” 

“With a mansion. Calm down, she won’t miss the reception. They’ve just been drinking cocktails while we were off being photographed. El?”

“Yeah?” El says, her hand in Mike’s. 

“I know you’re thinking about having biological kids, and I just think you should consider that you won’t get to drink for nine months.” El had told them, about two Christmases ago, that she and Mike were considering children but were unsure if they wanted biological ones. El didn’t know if she wanted to risk them having powers like her, with all the responsibilities and danger that came with. They’d considered adopting, had asked Billy about it, but El’s job isn’t exactly safe. 

El seems to mull over what Max said. “My team does like taking a celebratory drink whenever we catch someone.” She’s a secret agent, having honed her abilities and learned how to use them and take care of herself. She finds people, missing persons and dangerous fugitives, and no one outside her team and family know how she does it. 

“New girlfriend?” Billy asks Lucas, going back to what Max said about his sister. 

“Yeah. She broke up with Nick two months ago and started dating Miriam three weeks ago.”

“My wedding’s their three week anniversary? I’m honoured.” 

Lucas laughs. “You won’t say that when we find them hiding out in one of the closets.” 

“Lucas! Your sister has spent too long in a closet!” 

“Please. She came out when she was fifteen.” 

“And I’m very proud of her.” 

“Yeah,” Lucas says, sighing. “So am I.” 

Robin leads them over to the reception, a beautiful area with a roof made of fairy lights. Jessie runs ahead, and a second later Billy hears the happy squealing of Jonathan and Nancy’s kids, Joy, the six year old, and James, the three year old. He can’t help but smile hearing them. 

Robin finds a microphone, going up and asking the guests to take their seats at the round cloth clad tables, announcing the First Dance is about to begin. 

They’ve rehearsed it a million times, but Billy’s still a little nervous. Most of it melts away the second Steve takes his hand and leads him up to the dance floor, though. 

Then Elvis Presley’s voice starts up from the speakers, _“Wise men say...”_ and Billy falls into the practised steps, his chest against Steve’s and his hand in his, feeling like he’s on cloud nine. They’re right on schedule, the setting sun behind them, painted the sky in hues of red. It’s magical. 

Halfway through the song, Joyce and Elena stand up, and Billy drifts away from Steve so they can dance with their mums, before coming back to him during the last bit, as their dad’s take their places with their mums.

Afterwards, they take their places at the head table, and Richard stands up. 

“I want to welcome you all to join me in celebrating my son’s wedding to the love of his life. I couldn’t ask for a better son in law, and Elena and I are so proud of them. Now, let’s eat!” 

With that, they start to stand up, forming lines around the buffet tables the caterers filled with food while everyone’s attention was on them dancing. Most of it is Italian, about half of it from Steve’s restaurant. 

Once both he and Steve have finished their dinner, Billy grabs  _ his husband’s _hand, and goes to greet the guests. 

They end up at Murray and Alexei’s table. 

“So, you two going to California for the honeymoon?” Murray asks. They have a beach house in California, where they spend most of their summer, and sometimes the winter, too, if the cold is so bad it makes Billy’s scars ache. 

“No,” Steve says, smiling and reaching out to hold Billy’s hand. “Robin’s taking Jessie. We’re spending two weeks in the Netherlands. And then my nonna’s going back to Italy, so I’m finally going to get to show Billy around there.”

“Netherlands were first to make marriage legal for us,” Alexei says, nodding. “Good choice. You’ll be accepted.” 

“We went to Vegas,” Murray says. Billy knows they moved to Massachusetts just as the talks of same-sex marriages becoming legal began, and he knows they went to the courthouse the first week, just giving everyone a phone call once it was already done. “Lots of vodka there, you know. And Elvis.” 

Billy snorts on a laugh. 

“What did you think about the officiant’s speech?” 

“It was good; he just lacked that little detail of _shared trauma_.” 

“Of course,” Steve laughs. 

“Uncle Lexi!” comes the sound of a little girl, and Billy turns around to see Joy come barrelling forward, Jonathan chasing after her. 

Joy throws herself at Alexei, and the man reaches down to set her in his lap. 

“Tell me about space!” she says with a bright smile, pointing up at the sky.

Billy smiles when he sees her, putting a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder as he comes up beside Billy. 

“She looked up and saw a star had appeared, and immediately wanted to talk to Alexei”, he explains. “Nancy’s still with James; he was about to run after her. He wants to do everything she does.” 

“You’re going to have a little scientist, just you wait, Johnny,” Billy says, smiling at the little girls wide-eyed expression as she stares up at Alexei. 

“I don’t know who she’s getting it from, but it’s pretty great. Dustin bought her a lamp that looks like the solar system.” 

Dustin’s got his own company, working as an engineer with his wife. Jonathan and Nancy started a paper right after leaving college. They’re pretty successful. 

They go over to talk to more of their guests, stopping by Billy’s coworkers and Steve’s entire restaurant employees. 

Eventually, Robin comes to get them to tell them it’s time to go back to their seats, so that she, Max, and Dustin can give their speeches. 

“I’m going to start,” Robin says, holding the microphone. “Because I’m the wedding planner too, so I can make that decision. The second time I hung out with Billy, he’d lent me one of the first lesbian romance books I ever read. And I quoted it to him, saying  _‘She thought of people she had seen holding hands in movies, and why shouldn’t she and Carol?’_ and asking him why people like us shouldn’t get to hold hands? Well, I am so glad to say that in at least one part of this country, we have gotten even further than I could ever have dreamed of, that day. Earlier, the officiant spoke of the definition of marriage, and that is something that I can say Steve and Billy have been doing for almost two decades. I wish them many more decades of the same!”

“I started hanging out with Steve through a bit of an accident,” Dustin says, having received the microphone from Robin. “And then he became like a second mum to me and my friends. I never really had a dad, so Steve was the one whom I looked up to. I was a little unsure about Billy at first, when Steve first told me about his feelings, but seeing Steve while Billy was in the hospital made me realise he really was the one. Electricity, as Steve told me once, about falling in love. Chemistry, and electricity. Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much electricity as when Steve looked at Billy. Except maybe for when I married my wife.” 

Max is next, standing up with a hand on her belly and getting the microphone from Dustin. “Billy became my brother when I was eight years old. Since then, he has made me feel many emotions. It wasn’t always nice ones, I won’t lie, although I would like to blame most of that on Neil Hargrove, may the bastard burn in hell. Billy’s made me feel afraid, and worried, and annoyed. And he’s made me feel love, and happiness, and has taught me about family and all the forms it can come in. Billy became my brother when I was eight, and he might have stopped being it, legally, on paper, when I was fourteen, but I know that he will always be my brother and I will always be his sister, in our hearts, and because of that I have to say that I couldn’t have been happier finally welcoming Steve as my brother-in-law, even though he has, as Dustin so eloquently put it, kind of been my mum since I was thirteen.” 

After the speeches, it’s time to cut the cake. It’s a big thing, several layers, and together they cut the first two pieces to the flash of a photograph being taken. They put each piece on a plate, and Billy reaches out to feed the first piece to Steve. 

Steve opens his mouth, but instead of putting it directly inside, Billy dips his nose in the cream first, smiling brightly as Steve rolls his eyes. 

He does the same to Billy, and Billy leans forward, kissing him and tasting cake on his lips, on his tongue, in his mouth.

The DJ arrives just as they’re finishing dessert, putting music on and working to get everyone out on the dance floor. Billy spends an hour dancing, before he has to sit down and rest. Jessie comes over to sit at his feet, and Billy sinks his hand into her short, silky fur. He hopes he won’t need his cane, but he knows Robin’s put it by the DJ’s booth, just in case. As the years have gone by, Billy’s needed it less and less, and he’s exchanged it from the hospital one he had as a teen to a custom one with an octopus at its head. 

On good days, Billy can surf. On bad days, he has his cane.

He remembers the first time he’d gone to California with Steve, the first time he’d gone back up on a board. He’d been afraid people would stare at the scars on his torso, that he would fall off the board and drown. But Steve had been there, and so had Max, and they were both strong swimmers. And Max said she’d punch anyone who’d dare make him uncomfortable. 

Billy doesn’t mind showing off his chest anymore. He’d survived being possessed by an inter dimensional monster, and those scars are proof of that, are the result of having saved his newest little sister. He’s not ashamed. 

“Hey,” Will says, coming to sit down beside Billy and smiling at him. “Congrats.” 

Billy smiles back. “Thanks. No plus one for you, huh?” 

“Nah. I’m seeing someone, but it felt too early to bring him to my brother’s wedding.” 

“To meet your crazy family, you mean,” Billy says, gesturing at El and Max, dancing in front of them. Jonathan’s dancing with Nancy, and Murray and Alexei have got their kids in their arms, Alexei seemingly trying to teach a six hour old some Russian folk dance. 

“Yeah,” Will says with a laugh, following Billy’s gaze. Their parents are off trying to do some sort of robot dance. It’s weird. Billy loves them. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had. I know you’re going off to Europe tonight, so I wanted to run this by you before.” 

“Okay?” Billy asks, intrigued. He knows it’s about one of their books, just from the way Will’s speaking. 

Will’s a game developer, but on the side of both their jobs, he and Will have been writing books, some for children and some for teens. They illustrate them together, too, when it’s for younger kids. 

He remembers sitting down with Will, ten years ago, in the blissful silence of having just finished their final draft, when Will had suddenly started chuckling to himself. Billy had looked at him, raising one eyebrow. 

_“I just thought,”_ Will had said. _“What if you signed your name as William, too?”_ He’d gestured at the front page, at the Billy Hopper-Byers, and the William Byers-Hopper. Billy’s legal name might have still been Hargrove, but he’d wanted to use his adoptive parents’, too, in some way. A small part of him had also felt a little bit of glee in the thought of Neil getting out of prison and seeing that name on a book. 

_ “It would be weird.”  _

_ “But it would be fun. If we ever published anything separately, they’d only know which one of us it is by looking at the order of our last names.”  _

Billy had thought for a second, and perhaps it was because it was late and he was running on too little sleep, but he had laughed and agreed. 

“Being here today,” Will says, now. “I just thought we should write something like this. So I thought about the princess, you know? How we’ve only had her mention her mum? And we wanted to have her as the protagonist in the next one? What if she had two mums, who are married, and one of them is from an old order of warrior dwarves? And she’s been kidnapped, so the princess has to save her mother?”

Billy smiles, nodding to himself. “I like it. Steve’s probably going to throw me into a canal if I spend the day working, but if you write anything, email me and I’ll look through it as soon as possible?”

“Yeah, sounds great. I knew you’d like it.” 

Two hours later, and Billy’s stepping back into the mansion with Steve. 

“If we didn’t have a flight to catch, I’d pull you down onto one of these beds and completely ravish you, you know that?” 

Steve laughs. “Slow down, tiger. You’ll get to do it in a couple hours. We can do it _for_ _ hours_, in our  _ hotel suite_, in  _ Amsterdam_.” 

“You better go back to your own room; I’ve barely been able to control myself all evening. I won’t be able to stop myself from kissing you if you start stripping down in front of me.” 

“Glad to know you still find me so sexy, even at almost forty.” 

“I’m going to find you sexy when you’re eighty. Go.”

Steve blows him a kiss, and Billy can’t really help it. He reaches out and tugs on his tie until Steve leans down, giving him a quick peck on the lips. 

“Be out in fifteen?” 

“Mhm,” Billy says, and sighs when Steve steps away, chuckling, to disappear down the corridor. 

He goes to his own room, the one he’d changed in, and changes into more comfortable clothes. It’s a long journey, after all. He puts everything away in the suitcase he’d packed last week, and takes it with him down the stairs. 

Jessie jumps on him almost immediately, licking his face and wagging her tail, and Billy pets her, looking up to see Robin with Dustin, Max, and his and Steve’s parents. 

Steve joins them in the entry hall a second later, and they hug everyone goodbye. 

A taxi’s already waiting for them, taking them to the closest town where they have a boat, decorated with lights and roses and a banner that says ‘Just Married’ on it, waiting for them. 

Then there’s another taxi, this one taking them home to Boston, but to the airport instead of their flat in the city. Billy’s never been at an airport, they always take the car to California so they can bring Jessie with them, so he lets Steve take the lead. 

“I’m exhausted,” he says, once they’ve found their seats and the crew has gone through what to do in case of an emergency. He can hear the plane, a steady sound of machinery, and it makes him nervous. 

Steve reaches out, puts an arm around his shoulders so Billy can lean his head against his shoulder. “Sleep, love. It’s a six hour journey, after all.” 

“I can’t believe I let you convince me that my first introduction to plane travel should be through this long ass shit.”

Steve laughs, reaching a hand up to stroke the top of Billy’s head, above the bun. Billy nuzzles closer, making himself comfortable. He falls asleep there, against the man he loves, the love of his life. 

His husband. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos to tell me what you thought! 
> 
> I have to say, I can’t believe I’m here, posting this “last” part! I appreciate all of you for reading and leaving kudos and taking the time to comment! It has increased my confidence as a writer and I am so grateful to all of you!!!


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